President Joe Biden said Thursday that “dissent is essential for democracy,” but “chaos” has no part in a peaceful protest. He spoke as arrests continue on campuses around the U.S. as police dismantle camps of students protesting Israel’s war in Gaza.
At UCLA, officers arrested at least 132 people in sometimes violent confrontations. Most protesters left the library at Portland State University, where police on Thursday were preparing to arrest those who remained behind barricades. Other arrests were made at the University of Texas, Yale, Dartmouth, and the New York State universities at Buffalo and Stony Brook. The Associated Press has kept track, with nearly 1,750 people arrested at 32 schools.
Currently:
— Police using flash-bangs break up human chains at UCLA, making arrests and dismantling protest
— Eying campus protests, House passes bill to define criticism of Israel as antisemitic
— Timeline: How Columbia University's protest launched campus demonstrations around the U.S.
Here's the latest:
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, about two dozen protesters sat in the middle of a roadway blocking access to one of the main gates at Kirtland Air Force Base Thursday morning, waving flags and vowing to “shut everything down” over U.S. military support for Israel's war in Gaza.
Base spokesman Rob Smith said Kirtland supports citizens’ rights to peacefully assemble and protest and that base security would monitor the situation throughout the day. Meanwhile, the gate would remain closed indefinitely and people who work on the base were advised to use other routes.
The protest comes just days after 16 people -- including five students -- were arrested at the University of New Mexico just a few miles away after they occupied the campus’ student union building and caused damage inside.
Florida’s state university chancellor has ordered campus presidents to “take any necessary steps” to prevent disruption of graduation ceremonies by protestors.
The order covers the University of Florida, Florida State University, Central Florida University, Florida A&M University and eight others. Ten arrests were made at a pro-Palestinian rally at the University of South Florida on Tuesday after police deployed tear gas.
“We must protect the integrity of our commencement ceremonies and ensure the safety of our students,” Chancellor Ray Rodrigues wrote in a memo to presidents, adding that no ceremonies should be canceled or substantively modified. "These ceremonies are important milestones for our graduating students, and we owe it to our students to see to it that these ceremonies take place as planned. While we respect and honor the First Amendment, a commencement ceremony is not the time nor place to hold a political protest.”
President Joe Biden defended the right to peacefully protest on college campuses but said vandalism, violence, hate speech and other “chaos” has no part in a peaceful protest. “Dissent is essential for democracy,” he said at the White House Thursday morning. “But dissent must never lead to disorder.” Student protests over the Israel-Hamas war have popped up at many college campuses following the arrest of demonstrators in April at Columbia University. The Democratic president said the U.S. is neither an authoritarian nation that squashes dissent, nor a lawless country. “We are a civil society and order must prevail,” Biden said. “We are a big, diverse, free-thinking and freedom-loving nation.” Tensions at colleges and universities have been building, with demonstrators refusing to remove encampments, administrators cancelling classes and events and police clearing some protests by force.
Police arrested pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses across the country overnight, most notably at the University of California, Los Angeles, where chaotic scenes played out early Thursday as officers in riot gear surged against a crowd of demonstrators and made arrests.
Police removed barricades and began dismantling demonstrators’ fortified encampment at UCLA after hundreds of protesters defied orders to leave, some forming human chains as police fired flash-bangs to break up the crowds. Police bound the hands of many protesters with zip ties behind their backs and escorted them onto buses to the county jails reception center near downtown Los Angeles. At least 132 people were arrested at UCLA, said Sgt. Alejandro Rubio, a spokesperson for the CHP Southern Division.
Officers moved in after spending hours threatening arrests over loudspeakers if people did not disperse. A crowd of more than 1,000 had gathered in support, both inside a barricaded tent encampment and outside it. Protesters and police shoved and scuffled as officers encountered resistance. Video showed police pulling off helmets and goggles worn by some protesters as they were being detained.
The University of Minnesota officials announced an agreement with pro-Palestinian protesters on Thursday to end their encampment on the Minneapolis campus.
In exchange, representatives of the coalition of student organizations involved will get to address the university’s Board of Regents at their meeting next Friday, May 10, and the discussion will include their demands that the university divest its investments in Israel.
Interim President Jeff Ettinger announced the deal in an email to the campus community. It said nearby buildings that were closed as a precaution earlier this week would reopen at noon, and protesters agreed not to disrupt upcoming final exams or commencement ceremonies.
“While there is more work to do, and conversations are still planned with other student groups affected by the painful situation in Palestine, I am heartened by today’s progress,” Ettinger wrote. “It grew out of a desire among those involved to reach shared understanding. While we do not condone tactics that are outside of our policies, we appreciate student leaders’ willingness to engage in dialogue. I value the challenging and healthy conversations we’ve had.”
A few other schools also secured agreements with protesters to avoid disrupting campus events. Administrators at Brown University in Rhode Island agreed to consider a vote to divest from Israel in October — apparently the first U.S. college to agree to such a demand. And Northwestern University in Illinois agreed to reestablish an advisory committee on university investments and other commitments.
Journalism’s highest awards are administered by Columbia University, where the Pulitzer Prize Board is praising the work of student journalists in covering campus protests around the country.
The board specifically recognized “the extraordinary real-time reporting” of student journalists at Columbia, where the nationwide campus demonstrations began on April 17.
With other media blocked from entering the campus, these students became the eyes and ears for many as New York police arrested protesters.
“In the spirit of press freedom, these students worked to document a major national news event under difficult and dangerous circumstances at risk of arrest,” the board wrote.
Police have started working to clear pro-Palestinian rights demonstrators out of a library at Portland State University in Oregon. The protesters have been occupying the Millar Library since Monday. They spraypainted graffiti on inside walls and knocked over or piled up furniture to create barricades.
University President Ann Cudd said in a written statement late Wednesday that classes would resume on Thursday, but Portland State said in a morning social media post that the campus will instead be closed due to the police activity.
Cudd said Wednesday that about 50 protesters had vacated the Millar Library after administrators promised not to seek criminal charges, expulsion or other discipline against participants who left peacefully, but others -- including non-students -- remained.
Portland Police also said early Thursday 15 vehicles at the department's training facility were damaged by arson overnight; it was not immediately clear if that was related to the protest.
Former President Donald Trump commended police who cleared pro-Palestinian protesters from college campuses as he arrived in court Thursday morning for another day of his criminal hush money trial.
“It’s a shame. I’m so proud of the New York’s finest. They’re great,” Trump told reporters after police cleared demonstrators who had taken over an academic building at Columbia University. “They did a job in Columbia and likewise in Los Angeles they did a really good job at UCLA.”
Trump, in his comments, blamed the protests on “the radical left,” which he has railed against for years.
“This is a movement from the left, not from the right. The right is not your problem, despite what like law enforcement likes to say,” Trump said. “These are radical left lunatics. And they’ve got to be stopped.”
Yale police arrested four people Wednesday night after around 200 demonstrators had marched to the school president’s home and to the campus police department, Yale officials said. School officials said in a statement Thursday that protesters ignored repeated warnings that they were violating university policy on occupying parts of campus without permission. Two of those arrested were students, and the others were not, Yale said.
The protest group Occupy Yale said campus police were violent during the arrests and did not issue warnings beforehand. The group posted a video in Instagram showing officers bringing one arrestee to the ground and pinning another on a sidewalk.
“A peaceful protest,” Occupy Yale said. “Police officers seized, pushed, and brutalized people. Is this what you call keeping campus safe?”
Wednesday night’s protest at Yale came a day after a U.S. House of Representatives committee announced that the presidents of Yale, UCLA and Michigan will appear before the panel on May 23 to answer questions about campus protests.
Dartmouth College President Sian Leah Beilock defended the decision to arrest around 90 people Wednesday night, hours after an encampment had set up protesting the war.
“Last night, people felt so strongly about their beliefs that they were willing to face disciplinary action and arrest. While there is bravery in that, part of choosing to engage in this way is not just acknowledging — but accepting — that actions have consequences,” she said in a statement. She cited campus policies prohibiting demonstrations that interfere with Dartmouth's academic mission or increase safety risks.
“When policies like these have been ignored on other campuses, hate and violence have thrived — events, like commencement, are canceled, instruction is forced to go remote, and, worst of all, abhorrent antisemitism and Islamophobia reign,” Beilock said.
In New York, protesters were arrested overnight at Stony Brook University and the University at Buffalo, two campuses of the state university system.
A University at Buffalo spokesperson said 16 people were arrested late Wednesday after failing to comply with an order to disperse. Newsday reported that police arrested several dozen protesters at a Stony Brook encampment early Thursday and forced others to leave.
A police officer stands under a Palestinian flag after a raid on an encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A pro-Palestinian protester waves a Palestinian flag on the campus of Dartmouth College on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Hanover, N.H. (David Adkins via AP)
Police detain a demonstrator inside a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Police approach demonstrators inside a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators watch police activity behind a makeshift barricade on the UCLA campus Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The word "Peace" written by a anti-war protesters is displayed on the windows at Millar Library at Portland State University, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Protesters are taken into custody as law enforcement dismantle an encampment by pro-Palestinian students at the University of Texas at Dallas' Chess Plaza on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Richardson, Texas. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Pro-Palestianian protesters gather near a main gate at Columbia University in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, just before New York City police officers cleared the area after a building was taken over by protesters earlier in the day. The building and a tent encampment were cleared during the operation. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Demonstrators walk in an encampment on the UCLA campus after clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Police face off with pro-Palestinian demonstrators inside an encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Police enter an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Police break through a barrier set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
